Dispenser for toothpaste



Dec. 15, 1936. o. F. RITTERBUSCH 2,064,357l Y y DISPENSER FOR TOOTHPASTEFi-led June 15, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 15, 1936. o. F. RITTERBUscH2,064,357

DISPENSER FOR TOOTHPASTE Filed June 15, 1934 4 sheets-sheet 2 f' 9 91 96l@ 55 x 7a g 80 A l k l j A 1 1A v 7 5g E2 1 45 57 46' 2j f4 2p 056627Tifferb 112567?,

Dec. 15, 1936. o. F. RITTERBUSCH DISPENSER FOR TOOTHPASTE 4 Sheets-Sheet5 Filed June 15, 1954 flforzzeyg 15, 1936. o.l F. RITTERBUSCH 2,064,357

DISPENSER FOR TOOTHPSTE Filed June 15, 1934 `4 sheets-sheet 4 PatentedDec. l5, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT oFF-ICE accessi DISPENSER FORTOOTHPASTE Oscar F. Bittcrbusch. Chicago, lll. Application June 15,1934,Serial No.` 730,762 l 10 Claims.

My invention relates to dispensing devices'andparticularly to adispenser for toothpaste. One of the purposes of the invention is toprovide a device of this character in which the collapsible of a novelmeans for supplying sanitary shields for 10 the tooth brush in insertingit in the machine.

It is also an object of this invention to provide in a device of thischaracter a novel valve operating mechanism for automatically openingthe valve for discharging the tooth paste on to the brush at the propertime.

I will describe the preferred form of my invention by reference to theaccompanyingdrawings, wherein- Fig. l is a sectional view takenvertically through the device.

2 Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of4 Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a section onthe line t-t of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1.Fig. 6 is a section similar to Fig. 5 showing the `mechanism in achanged position.

Fig. 7 is a section on the line l-l of Fig. l.

Fig. 8` is a section on the line toi Fig. l.

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9 9 of'Fig. 1.

Fig. 10 is a section on the line i--it of Fig. 1.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged section through the lower end of the containerfor the sanitary covers.

Fig. l2 shows the sanitary cover folder in the ease or box in which itis shipped or sold.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of the sanitary cover, and

`Fig. 14 is a plan view oi the blank from which the sanitary cover ismade.

Fig. l5 is a plan view of the sanitary cover with a brush seatedtherein.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the device is mounted upon a.base which preferably is to be fastened upon a wall as shown in Figs. land i and a suitable cover t fits on the base and encloses all of'themechanism. This cover is apertured at i to' permit the insertion of thetooth brush, and at one side of the cover on the base. there is mountedthe auxiliary casing t for hous.

(Cl.l 221-60) in the frame are the two feed screws I3 and Il which areconnected together at their upper ends outside of the frame by means ofthe gears I 5 and I6. One of the screws has a right hand thread, andtheother a left hand thread. These gears are held against rotation in onedirectionl by means of the spring pressed pawl I1 shown most clearly inFig. 7. A handle I8 is provided on the gear I6 for'turning the feedscrews by hand when desired. Threaded on the feed screws is a pair ofblocks I9'and 2li, which blocks carry a back roller 2| and a irontroller 22 for engaging on the opposite sides of a collapsible tube 23.The

front roller 22 is removably mounted by means of the spindle 24 whichmay be withdrawn against the tension of the, spring 25 by pulling on theknurled head 26. This roller 22 can be. readily taken out for theinsertion of a fresh tube vwhen the oldone is empty. The upper end ofthe collapsible tube 23 is supported by means of the clamping jaws 21and 28 which are held by the U-shaped clamps 29 and 30. Screws 3| and 32are used to tighten the clamps 29 and '30, and these clamps aresuspended in the eyes oi the bolts 33 and 3d, which bolts extend throughthe top of the frame It. At the other end, the co1- lapsible tube 23 isscrew-threaded into the nozzle 35. `In order to turn the rollersA suchas 2i and 22', gears 36 and 3l are connected on to the shafts of theserollers and these gears ride on the racks 38 and 39.

The rollers and their associated gears are substantially the same indiameter. This is very important in preventing a tendency of the rollersto advance along the tube faster than the gears advance on their racks.If it were notv for the t fact that the tube stretches slightly as it isattened, the gears and rollers should be matched so that thecircumference of the rollers exactly equalled the gear circumference.Actually, the gears and rollers are so closely matched that there is aslight pulling tendency on the tube and not al crushing action.

' As shown most clearly in Fig. 8, the gears @t and 3l are slightlysmaller than the rollers 2i and 22, and the pitch diameter of thesegears is such that the rollers roll only a slight amount faster than thegears advance along the racks, this slight amount of advance beingnecessary to take up the stretch in the tube as it is narin tened out.The racks 3@ and 39 insure turning of the rolls at al1 times, and theinterconnectionv position to begin on a fresh tube, the operation is asfollows:

The pawl |1 is made inactive by moying it away from gear I8; the pivotedclutch disengaging. arms 41a and 48a (see Fig. 5) are pressed against 41and 48 to hold them free from the clutch members 45 and 48, then, bymeans of handle I8, the feed screws are turned backward.

Referring now to the valve structure and the means for operating it, thevalve casing is indicated at 48 and the valve'is of the plunger typehaving the stem 4| which is slotted at 42 so that if the valve is movedto the right from the position shown in Fig. '1, the slot'at 42 will bealigned with the opening 43 to permit the tube contents to pass out onto a brush `held in the support 44. This brush support is connected upto automatically operate the tube squeezing rolls in a manner which willnow be described.

It will be noted that the shafts of the feed screws I3 and |4 extendbeyond the frame I8 and are provided at a distance from the frame withthe clutch members 45 and 46, which clutch members are keyed to theshafts and are adapted to mesh with similar clutch members on the hubsof the gears 41 and 48. These gears 41 and 48 are pressed towards theclutch members 45 and 46 by the springs 49 and 58 interposed between theframe piece 5| and the gears. The frame piece 5| is slotted as indicatedat 52 (Fig. 4) and just outside the slot a guide rod 53 is mounted onthe frame piece. 'I'he tooth brush support has a mounting bar 54provided with turned out ends, the front one' of which is slidable onthe guide rod 53 and is also extended to t over the rod 55 and bepressed outwardly by means of the spring 56 mounted on the rod 55. Thebar 54 therefore can be pushed in toward the base 5 and will slide alongthe guide rod 53 but when the pressure pushing it in is released, thespring 56 will return the bar 54 to the position shown in Fig. 4 whichis the normal resting position. Mounted onv the bar 54 is a rack 51which rack meshes with the gears 41 and 48 so that as this rack ispushed in, the gears 41 and 48 are turned in a direction to turn thefeed screws and feed the rollers 2| and 22 downward on the collapsibletube. 'Ihis rack carries a plate 58 which is adapted to receive a toothbrush, the plate having turned-up sides as indicated at 59 and 68 at thefront end and at 6| and 62 near the back end. On the plate there is asliding buffer 63 adapted to be engaged by the end of the tooth brushand this buffer 63 has links 64 and 65 pivoted thereto, these linksbeing in turn connected to the gripping jaws 66 and 61 which are pivotedat 68 and 69 to the plate 58 and which carry the gripping portions 18and 1| at their free ends. It is lbelieved to be evident from aninspection. of Figs. 5 and 6 that pushing of the tooth brush shown at 12upwardly against the buffer 63 causes the gripping jaws to grip thetooth brush and hold it while the feeding operation is taking place.

The pin 13 which isalso mounted on the buffer 63 has a square nut 14onthe end thereof which is adapted to' drop down 'ver the end of theexten,- sion 15 of the plate 58 and thus hold the buffer in position tocause gripping of the tooth brush during the final part of the advancingstroke'and the initial part lof the returning stroke. On the end of therack 51 there is pivoted a trip arm 16 and this trip arm is connected bymeans of the pivot pin 11 to the little lever 18 that rides in the slot19 alongside of the slot 52. As the rack aoc-1,357 l.

51 is pulled to the right, 4as shown in Flgf4, this trip lever 18reaches the end of its slot 19 and throws the trip arm 18 up to kick thenut 14 oi! the end of plate 15 and thus allow the tooth brush to bereleased.

The valve 4| is actuated by means of a pin 88 mounted on the gear 48which pin is adapted to engage the arm 8| which is fixed on the valve4|. The pin 88, by engaging the member 8|, moves it outwardly againstthe tension of the springl82 to open the valve by aligning the slot 42with the `opening 43. In this position, the collar 83 on the valve 4| isadapted to engage in the latch 84 which is pivoted on the bracket 85 andthus holds the valve in open position during the remainder of theadvancing stroke of the tooth brush. The stop pin 86 serves as a limitfor the lever 8|l and, of course, the pin 88 merely slides past thelever. 'Ihe valve remains-open until the tooth brush and its supportingcarriage approaches the inner limit of its stroke, at which point a pin81 Awhich is mounted on the tooth brush support engages the trip lever88 which is pivoted to the base 5 and pushes this trip lever against thearm 89 carried by the latch 84 to release the latch. The latch 84, ofcourse, being pivoted,'falls down into latching position by force ofgravity. In order that the plate 58 cannot be retracted until it hasreached the limit of the stroke as indicated in Fig. 6, the bar'54 isprovided with ratchet teeth at 98 (Fig. 10), and a little pawl 9|controlled by spring 92 cooperates with the ratchet teeth 98 to preventwithdrawal of the tooth brush after it has been inserted and the supportmoved part way back. It is evident, of course, that, if this support vismoved all the way in so that the pawl 9| passes off the end of the bar54, then it will not inter.

fere with the return of the bar 54.

Referring now to the sanitary cover for the tooth brush, this device ismade preferably of paper or similar material and has side portions |88,|8|, end portion |82 and a tab |83. The side portions are cut away asindicated at |84 and |85 for a purpose which will presently appear. Theend portion and the side portions are connected by means of the sections|86 and |81 on each side which sections fold or overlap as shown in Fig.13 when the end portion is moved into an upri'ght or open position. 0fcourse, when the side portions 88 and |8|' are folded over one on top ofthe other, the end portion folds down over them as shown lmost clearlyin Fig. 11. In stacking these covers in a container, folded flat in thisfashion, the tab |83 of one nts just beneath one of the side portionssuch as |8| of the next adjacent one of the covers so that, as shown inFig. 11, if the bottom .cover is removed by pulling on the tab |813, thetab on the next cover will be pulled down into position to be taken holdof when a new cover is' needed. Also, this tab will perform the functionof opening up the sides |88 and |8| and pushing the end |82 up intoproper position to receive the tooth brush head. A suitable weight, suchas |88, is slidable vertically in the casing 8 which houses the covers.Preferably, these covers come packaged in a box having the top portion|89 and a bottom portion I|8 so that all that is necessary to place themin the casing 8 is to remove the top portion |89 and While I have shownand described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to beunderstood, that it is capable of manyv modifications. Changes,`therefore in the construction and arrangement may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in theappended claims in which it is my intention to claim all noveltyinherent in my invention a's broadly as possible, in view of the priorart.

I claim:

1. A dispensing device comprising a frame having means to mount acollapsible tube therein, a discharge` nozzle for receiving thedischarge end of the tube, a pair of rollers one on each side of thetube, a pair of feed screws, one at each end of the rollers, blocksthreaded on the screws and carrying the rollers, and means for turningthe screws to move the rollers along 'the tube, said screws beinginterconnected so that both must advance their ends of the rollers atthe'same rate, a reciprocable tooth brush support on said frame in frontof the nozzle and mechanism forv connecting said support to the feedscrews to trn the screws, said mechanism including a rack on saidsupport, gears mounted on the frame and meshing with said rack,co-operating clutch members on said gears and screws, adapted tointerlock and turn the screws with the gears upon advance of the supportin one direction only, said device having means to prevent reversal ofmovement of the brush support during its screw turning movement until itreaches the end o1' its stroke.

2. A dispensing device comprising a frame having means to mount acollapsible tube therein, a pair of rollers one on each side of thetube, a pair of feed screws, one at each end of the roll-l ers, blocksthreaded on the screws and carrying the rollers, and means for turningthe screws to move the rollers along the tube, said screws beinginterconnected so that both must advance their ends of the rollers atthe same rate, a reciprocable tooth brush support on said frame in frontof the no`zzle' and mechanism for connecting said support to thefeed'screws to turn the screws, said mechanism including a rack on saidsupport, gears mounted on the lframe and meshing with saidrack,co-operating clutch members on said gears and screws, adapted tointerlock and turn the screws with the gears upon advance of the supportin one direction only, said device having means to prevent reversal ofmovement of the brush support duringits screw turning movement until itreaches the end of its stroke, said brush support having jaws thereonfor gripping the brush upon movement of the brush endwise to advance thesupport.

3. A dispensing device comprising a frame having means to mount acollapsible tube therein, a pair of rollers one on each side of thetube, a pair of feed screws, one at 4each end of the rollers, blocksthreaded on the screws and carrying the rollers, and means for turningthe screws to move the rollers along ,the tube, said screws beinginterconnected so that both must advance their ends of the rollers atthe same rate, a reciprocable tooth brush supporton said frame in frontof the nozzle and mechanism for' connecting said support lto the feedscrews to turn the scre`ws, said' mechanism lincluding a rack on saidsupport, gears mounted on the frame and meshing with said rack,co-operating clutch members on said gears and screws, adapted tointerlock and turn the screws with the gears uponl advance of themovement in one direction.

4. A protecting cover for tooth brush backs to. be used in a dispensingdevice where the toothbrush is employed to actuate the dispensingmechanism, said cover having a base, s'ide Walls and an end walltogether with a tab at the end opposite the end wall.

5. A protecting cover for tooth brush backs to be used" in a dispensingdevice where the tooth brush is employed to actuate the dispensingmechanism, said cover having a base, side walls and an end wall togetherwith a tab at the end oppositey the end wall, said end wall and saidside walls being interconnected by overlapping folding portions, andbeing foldable down at on the base.

6'. A dispensing device having means to hold a collapsible tube,mechanism for compressing the tube to discharge its contents, a controlvalve, a, reciprocable brush support connected to the lvalve andmechanism for actuating. them by movement of the support in onedirection, and mea-ns to close saidvalve before movement of the supportin the opposite direction.

7. A dispensing device having means to hold a collapsible tube,mechanism for compressing the tube to discharge its contents, a controlvalve, a reciprocable brush support connected to the valve and mechanismfor actuating them by movement of the support, gripping jaws on saidsupport for gripping a brush on advance movement of said support, andtrip mechanism releasing said jaws, said trip mechanism being operatedby return of the support to its starting position.

8. A dispensing device comprising a frame, means thereon to mount a..collapsible tube of the type having a dispensing outlet at one end andsealed at the other end, means operable to progressively compress saidtube from the sealed end, a reciprocable brush support on said frameadapted upon movement inv one direction to operate said compressingmeans, means to prevent reversal of movement of the brush support durlngthe above mentioned movement until the brush support reaches the end ofits stroke.

9. vA dispensing device comprising a frame, means thereon to mount acollapsible tube of the type having a dispensing outlet at one end andsealed at the other end, means operable to progressively compress saidtube from the sealed end, a reciprocable brush support on said frameadapted upon movement in one direction to`operate said compressingmeans, means to prevent reversal of movement of the brush support duringthe above mentioned movement until the brush support reaches the end ofits stroke, a 4valve controlling the outlet from said tube, and

means to'open said valve and close it during said 10. A dispensingdevice comprising a frame, means thereon to mount a collapsible tube ofthe type having a dispensing outlet at one end and sealed at the otherend, means operable to progressively compress said tube from the sealedend,

a reciprocable brush support on said frame adaptment in one direction,said brush support having jaws thereon for gripping a. brush uponmovement of the brush endwise to advance the support, and trip meansoperable upon the return movement of the support to release said jaws. 5

OSCAR F. RIT'I'ERBUSCH.

